Girls Frontline-Shadows
by M99G11
Summary: Alternate Universe based in GFL world. The world has been forever changed with ELIDs roaming the globe, destroying or infecting everything they come across. T-dolls struggle to survive alongside their human compatriots as they seek sanctuary from the unending hordes.
1. Chapter 1

Synopsis: The world has been forever changed with ELIDs roaming the globe, destroying or infecting everything they come across. T-dolls struggle to survive alongside their human compatriots as they seek sanctuary from the unending hordes.

AR Team, comprised of four AR dolls, M4A1, SOPMOD ll, AR-15 and M16, were rescued from their stasis pods by a survivor group. They are now helping them endure and survive the harsh and unforgiving landscape of a world forever changed.

**Chapter 1**

The wind blows in her face, causing the dark-brown hair to flow as it catches the breeze. A white jacket, tied around her waist, rustles in the wind. She adjusts her grip on her gun, a customised M4A1 assault rifle, as she looks over the field with her dark-brown eyes. The sky is tinged with a black smog, as if mother nature had enough of trying to purify it and was content to let it hang in the air all around. In front of her stands a group of humanoid figures, some wearing clothes stained in blood or covered in filth and muck, others almost stark naked, wandering the fields and the road on her path.

"Another group of those poor bastards, huh?"

The girl looks over her right shoulder to see another girl with black hair and an eyepatch walk towards her.

"Another one all right, M16."

"We keep running into them everywhere." The girl called M16 sighed and looked back at the small group of fighters setting up defensive positions in the middle of the road. "This is the 6th group of ELIDs we've had to fight today."

M4 thought back to what she knew about about the topic. ELIDs, or Eurosky Low-Emission Infectious Disease, was an infection caused by exposure to Collapse Fluids, or CF for short. CF would react with any kind of matter it came into contact with and randomly transformed it into anything, though the end result for humans was always the same.

It mutated them into ravenous and feral creatures, who would stop at nothing to consume any other kind of matter around them. Depending on who you asked, the survivors called them a number of things, though the most common was either 'Mutants' or 'Zombies'.

After months of fighting and surviving, the old ways, and lives were dead. Those who survived have learnt to adapt to their new circumstances. A new way of life grew from the ashes of the old…

"...Everyone's getting pretty tired, M4." M16 continued on. "I've already seen a number of them napping on the way here instead of being on the alert."

"…How's AR-15 and SOP?" M4 asked.

"The usual." M16 used her right thumb to point behind her, towards the armoured technical at the rear of the group. "SOP's trying to make something from all the scrap we picked up at the junkyard. She's working with Larry to piece it together last I checked. Said that the 'ELID sacks would fall at its touch'. "

"Honestly," M4 groaned a little. "I would be a lot more assured of what she's trying to create if it didn't blow up in her face so often."

"Ha ha, true." M16 laughed, which caused M4 to smile.

"AR-15 is just standing behind our truck, preparing for the fight ahead. She's busy sharpening that combat knife of hers." M16 looked at M4. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be preparing that sledgehammer of yours?"

M4 just looked down to the road at her feet. "I'd rather not fight." She whispered, almost inaudible.

M16 patted M4's back. "Well, we're going to have to clear the way for the main caravan group behind us anyway." She started walking back to the assembling fighters. "Come on."

…

"Okay, folks. Listen up." The leader of the band of fighters called out to the group. "I know many of you are battle-weary and are hoping to catch a break soon, but before that, we have to clear the way for the caravans coming behind us. Their safety depends on us."

A collective groan echoed from the group. M4 looked at the group of ELID mutants warily in case they heard them. Thankfully, they remained oblivious to their presence.

"The battle plans are the same." The leader continued, ignoring the groans made by the group. We'll have our technical, MGs and marksmen loaded and formed in a defensive line on the road. Scouts, draw small groups of mutants towards the melee teams, where they will beat them and take them out quickly. The dolls will form their own group, acting as both our reserve and backup. Understood?"

A chorus of weary affirmatives sounded before the group broke up. M4 and M16 went behind the technical to meet up with AR-15 and SOP.

"Yo." SOP called out as they approached the back of the technical. "How's it going?"

"Could be better." M16 replied. "The rest of the fighters are rather weary from all the fighting we've done so far."

"Meh." SOP replied as she hopped off the truck. "I'll never get tired of shooting up mutants. It's pretty good at relieving boredom for me."

"Well, you might be able to shoot them if you hadn't turned your gun into a club a couple of days ago, SOP." AR-15 said, sheathing her knife as she rounded the back of the technical.

"Aw come on. Why are you still going on about that? That mutant was almost on top of me and my gun had jammed, so I had to bash it in the head with the stock."

"I'm pretty sure bashing it in the head didn't require you to actually hit the mutant until the back of its head had caved in."

"I just had to make sure it was really dead." SOP answered, a maniac grin on her face. "It was pretty satisfying, though."

AR-15 sighed. M4 hesitantly stepped forward.

"AR-15, we- "

"I know." AR-15 cut M4 off. "We heard it over the Zener network." She looked over at M4. "You have to learn to step it up. We can't be covering for your constant fumbling and self-doubting all the time. Where's your sledgehammer?"

"In our truck bed." M4 replied. "But I don't really- "

"Go get it." AR-15 cut M4 off again. "You don't want to be unarmed when your gun runs out of bullets."

M4 looked hesitatingly at AR-15 before slipping off to grab her weapon.

"You shouldn't be so hard on her, AR-15." M16 scolded.

"If we're not hard on her, she's going to be a liability in the fight." AR-15 countered. "I can't protect her all the time."

"That's why we're here together." M16 shot back. "We cover for each other and work together."

"Can we hurry and start killing them already?" SOP barged into the conversation, picking up a baseball bat that appeared to have a spinning saw blade in the middle of its tip and swinging it around. "They look so pitiful, wandering around like lost lil' puppies."

AR-15 and M16 both sighed while SOP tilted her head at both of them.

"Alright. Same procedure as usual. I'll be out front, M4 in the middle as a lookout and commander. AR-15 and SOP to the sides." M16 looked around, twirling her crowel, which had a shovel on one end and a crowbar on the other. "Don't see any unpleasant surprises, but still, be careful."

As soon as M4 returned, a hefty sledgehammer slung on her back, the team moved into position between the technical and the melee teams.

"Okay, scouts. Work your magic." The leader's voice came in over the radio.

Instantly, 3 pairs of humans ran towards the edge of the mutant horde. They started banging away on a metal pan that each pair carried.

The mutants on the edge of the herd close to the survivors stopped in their tracks and looked in the direction of the sound. Having been alerted to the group's presence, they began shambling over to the melee teams.

"Melee teams, ready…" The radio sounded. "Beat em down."

The melee teams moved forward, unified in their teams. One member each acted as distractor, baiting the mutant attacks, while the rest of the team focused on surrounding and beating the crap out of the mutant.

"Heads up, AR team! We got an aberrant heading your way!"

M4's head perked up as she scanned the horizon. A mutant had apparently ignored the melee and scout teams and was rushing towards the AR team.

"M16! Intercept it!" M4 called out, as she readied her gun.

"On it!" M16 called out. She stepped forward, her weapon, a cross between a shovel on one end and a crowbar on the other at the ready, and swung straight for the mutant's head as it got close to her.

But the aberrant mutant ducked low and barreled into M16's waist, knocking her onto her back. M4 involuntarily started moving towards her, but the mutant simply ignored M16 and sprinted towards M4 on all fours.

"Shit!" M4 exclaimed. She started firing shots from her suppressed rifle, but the mutant ran from side to side, evading the oncoming fire and continuing to rush at her. She dropped her rifle, reached for her sledgehammer and tried to block the mutant's charge. The mutant slammed into her guard, knocking her onto her butt. As she sat, dazed by the blow, the mutant circled around once and lunged at her.

AR-15 suddenly appeared to the right of M4, lunging and plunging her combat knife into the mutant's neck. The mutant howled and threw itself to the side.

AR-15 didn't slow down. She rolled on the ground, jumped to her feet, aimed her rifle and started hammering shots into the mutant's legs, causing it to tumble to the ground. SOPMOD ran forward and swung her bat, connecting in the mutant's chin with a meaty whack.

"DIE YOU SCUMBAG!" SOP screamed, raising her bat over the mutant's head and slamming it straight into the mutant's brain, the spinning saw turning it into mush and spraying blood everywhere.

"M4!" M16 called out. She rushed towards M4 and extended a hand.

M4 looked at the hand and grabbed it, using the additional help to haul herself back to her feet. 

"What the hell were you doing?!" AR-15 started. "You nearly got turned into a wreck by that mutant!"

"S-sorry." M4 timidly replied.

"Don't 'sorry' me! You almost got killed there!" AR-15 vented.

"Okay, ease up, AR-15." M16 cut in. "There's no need to take it all out on M4 here."

AR-15 huffed, before turning around and walking back to their designated position, retrieving her knife from the dead mutant's corpse.

"AR-15…"

"Let her be." M16 patted M4 in the back. "You know she's just worried about you, even if she doesn't like to show it."

M4 nodded weakly. M16 knelt down, picked up M4's sledgehammer and handed it back to her.

"Come on, let's get back into position." M16 said. "And you, SOP. How many times do we have to tell you not to touch mutant blood or get it all over you? We don't know how much ELID contaminant is inside it.

Just as SOP was about to reply, a grave-sounding voice came in over the radio. It was the leader of the band of fighters.

"All forces! Pack up and move out! Pack up and move out! I just got a mayday from the convoy group! They're reporting a mutant assault on their position!"

"Crap." M16 cursed. "They don't have that many fighters with them. We got to go, now!"

"Get in!" AR-15 was already at the wheel of the team truck, it's engine roaring.

M4, M16 and SOP rushed back to the truck. As soon as the three dolls had leapt onto the truck bed, AR-15 slammed her foot onto the accelerator. The mutants they had been busy fighting moments ago shrunk to small specks as the truck raced away from them, towards the main caravan group.

* * *

Hi everyone. This may not be the first fic I've written, but it's certainly the first that I've worked up the courage to post anywhere public. Feel free to leave likes and/or any constructive criticisms. Have a good day. I'll see how well this chapter does before I decide if I want to post up more chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The entire fighter group raced back towards the caravan. Everyone was tense, with people either hastily checking their ammo and guns in preparation for the fight to come.

Arriving at the expected convoy position, the group couldn't see the convoy anywhere.

"What the fuck?!" The group leader called out on the radio. "Convoy lead, where the hell are you?!"

Gunfire erupted through the static of the radio. "We're, uhhh, shit, we're on the A-14 highway! Fuck, they're everywhere!"

"WHAT THE FUCK! We were told to clear out the A-9 flyover!"

"Hurry the fuck back! The defense line is collapsing," more gunfire in the background. "We can't hold them back! There's too many of the-OH FUCK JENNA BEHIND YOU-"

The radio cut out to static. M4 could see the group leader slam his hand on the dashboard of his truck.

"Goddammit! Fighter group, to the A-14, on the double!"

The pickup trucks and technical instantly revved up their engines. Black smoke bellowed from their exhausts as they raced down the roads towards where the main convoy was. M4 watched the scenery fly by, her grip slowly tightening around her gun. She could see anxious faces of the fighters in the trucks next to hers. It made sense. They volunteered for this job to protect their loved ones from the threat that was now rampaging through the main convoy. Some looked scared, some were calmly repacking their magazines as quickly as possible, yet others were silently praying that their family and friends were alright. The feeling of dread turned M4's guts around.

"There! In the distance!" A fighter called out on the radio. "M-my god…"

A jam-up of campervans, trucks and cars came into view on the road ahead. Some of the vehicles, particularly the ones up front and to the sides, had seen a lot of abuse, and one of them was still ablaze. The vehicles stood still but the screams of the living and gunshots could still be heard from them.

"Shit." The leader of the fighters cursed over the radio. "Okay guys, we need to clear that pile up of any mutants and rescue any survivors we can find. Scout teams, recon the area. See if you can find any other dangers around, as well as the rest of the convoy. That looks like only half of the convoy in that jam. Melee and marksman teams, we're moving in to secure the perimeter and kill any mutants left in there. AR team, go along with the melee teams. Provide cover fire and backup. Check your fire. Understood?"

"Roger that."

…

Approaching the pile up, the fighters began fanning out to cover blind spots. The first thing M4 noticed was the human bodies, some lying limp from the windscreens, some still in their seats, their faces showing multiple lacerations. Others looked like they had dragged themselves some distance on the ground before being torn to pieces. Mutant bodies with shots to the head were also scattered around the road. Two technicals at the head of the pile-up were covered in blood spatters, and spent casings were littered on the ground everywhere, along with a few blood-covered melee weapons and guns. The sight was ghastly.

As one of the fighters passed a truck, a gnarled hand shot out of the window and grabbed his arm.

"HELP ME!" The fighter screamed as he fought against the mutant pulling his arm towards its mouth in a life or death tug-of-war.

M4 froze up, but AR-15 sprang into action. She sprinted up and threw her knife straight into the mutant's forehead. Although it didn't kill it, it was distracted by the blow enough for the fighter to pull his arm free.

AR-15 closed the distance with two strides and, grabbing the hilt of the knife with both hands, jammed the blade forward, driving the blade deeper into the mutant's brain. The mutant shuddered, fell back to the seat and laid still.

M4 stared at the fighter's lacerated arm. He was cursing and swearing up a storm. With that kind of wound, it was entirely possible for him to get an ELID infection.

"What the fuck! I checked that truck! Looked in the cab! None of the bodies inside were moving! Fuck!"

"Shit." One of the other fighters nearby choked up.

"Come on, M4, keep moving." AR-15 said.

M4 moved along with the rest of the fighters, though she kept stealing glances back.

"...Focus M4." AR-15 cut in. "You need to concentrate, or you might end up being grabbed yourself."

"I know, it's just…" M4 shook her head. "N-never mind. We need to clear the wreckages."

Clearing the way further into the jam, the squad found a truck, with some kind of liquid pouring out of the containers on the back. A pair of mutants could be seen actually drinking from the puddle forming behind the truck.

"What the hell… That's the liquor supply!" M16 exclaimed, her grip tightening on her weapon.

"M16, don't…." M4 tried to stop M16, but she was already rushing forward at the two mutants with her crowel. The two mutants seemed inebriated - they never reacted to her rushing in or when she beat them down and spiked their heads in with the crowbar end of her crowel.

"GET! THE FUCK! OFF! MY BOOZE!" M16 panted as she swung at the dead mutant corpses. Exhausted, she leaned on her crowel and started sobbing.

"M16…." M4 gently shook M16's shoulder.

"God dammit." M16 cried. "I hated that brew *sob*, but…but… *sob* "

"Focus, M16." AR-15 replied. "We need to rescue those still alive. We can return later to see what we can salvage."

M16 looked up at AR-15 for a while before wiping the tears from her eyes. "...Fine."

Moving to the back end of the jam, the squad finally found the source of the human screams and shots. Three campervans were sitting on the road and being pounded on by the mutants from all sides. Dents and broken windows could be seen on the vans. Every so often, a mutant would try to climb in through a broken window, only to be thrown back to the road by a blast from inside the campervans. The screams and cries of children and people trapped inside the vehicles kept drawing the horde.

SOP started hollering at the horde. "Hey uglies! Come and get me!"

The horde ignored SOP and continued to pound on the campervans. SOP started banging her bat on a nearby abandoned car while screaming even louder. "ARE YOU JUST GONNA IGNORE ME OR WHAT?!" The horde didn't even react to the racket she caused.

SOP stopped banging on the car. "What now?"

"We won't be able to get their attention this way." AR-15 said. "We can't shoot them from here either. We'd risk hitting one of the survivors."

M4 scanned the surroundings, trying to find a way to get the mutants to stop their assault on the survivors. The only thing she could see was littered trash, bodies and abandoned cars.

...Abandoned cars from the convoy…

M4 leapt into action. Running over to the car, she laid her sledgehammer on the steering wheel's horn. The horn attracted the mutants on the edge of the horde closest to the car (which AR-15 and a couple of other fighters took out quickly) but the remaining mutants continued to assault the campervans.

SOP realized what M4 was trying to do and quickly got a couple of other fighters to execute the same idea. They ran towards other cars nearby and pressed down upon the horn.

The horns sounded out together, loud and constant. Like a huge pack of hunting animals, the rest of the horde turned as one towards the cars, AR team and the rest of the fighters.

"Ummm... You do have a plan, right M4?" A nearby fighter asked.

M4 didn't respond. She only just realized that she hadn't thought about how to deal with the horde once they had gotten their attention….

The horde surged forward at the group.

"Shit! There's too many of them!" A fighter towards the rear of the group cursed as he and the rest of the fighters started shooting and scrambling away from the oncoming tide of death.

"M4!" AR-15 yelled out. She had climbed up onto the top of a nearby truck with SOP guiding M16 up. Kneeling down, AR-15 leaned over the edge, her right arm outstretched.

M4 started running, faster than she had ever run before. She ran towards the truck, slid under a mutant arm that appeared from behind a car and jumped towards AR-15's outstretched hands. Grabbing each other's arm, AR-15 hauled M4 up to the top of the truck.

"M4, SOP! Lay into those mutants, on the double!" AR-15 had already started firing rapid, precise shots into the heads of the nearby mutants with her rifle.

M4 started shooting, dropping mutants all around, although she missed a few shots that hit the asphalt instead of a mutant's brain. SOP swung her saw-bat at any mutant that tried to climb up onto their truck, while M16 half-heartedly shot at any mutant she saw while keeping her eye on the team.

"I'm out of rounds!" M4 called out over the Zener.

"M4, catch!" AR-15 pulled out one of her spare magazines from her pouch and tossed it over to M4, who caught it in mid-air and quickly loaded it into her gun.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! There's too many of em! A fighter screamed as he fired a 3 round burst, dropping a mutant as he rounded the back of a car.

"Keep your cool! Use the vehicles! Force the horde down into a manageable trickle! Hold those chokepoints!"

….

After several minutes of frantic shooting and melee combat by both AR team and the fighters, the mutant horde was finally taken out. A ring of mutant bodies surrounded the truck where AR team had taken refuge, while a carpet of them was seen in 2 parts of the jam where the cars formed a chokepoint.

"Well fuck me." A fighter asked, astounded. "Is it over?"

"Not yet. We still need to secure the area, get the wounded treated….."

Looking back at the campervans, M4 was relieved to see fighters around it, helping the survivors. Men, women, even a few young children. Most of them were in a state of shock, barely responding to the fighters around them.

The leader of the fighters walked up to the survivors and talked to them, checking up on their condition. After confirming that they were okay, he strode over to AR team as they climbed off the truck, the veins in his forehead throbbing.

"What the fuck was that stunt you pulled out there?!" He shouted at M4, who stood meekly in place, her head angled towards her feet. "You nearly got half of my guys killed!"

"Look, sir." AR-15 responded "With all due respect, we had to help those survivors before they got overwhelmed, and the horde wasn't responding to anything else we tried…."

"Shut up!" The man's veins were bulging as he hollered back at AR-15. "Now listen here, AR team. I have 4 dead and 8 injured, 5 of which are at risk of infection, all because she wanted to go and play the hero!" He jabbed his finger in M4's direction as he yelled.

The man fought to control his temper. After a long period of awkward silence, he said in a low voice, "Get out of my sight. I have to count both the dead we have, and those who are about to meet their maker."

* * *

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long delay for this chapter. RL, exams and school projects caught up with me. Now that they are (mostly) over I can hopefully write these chapters out much faster.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Diary Entry No. 165

Been a long day today, and a lot has happened.

Should talk about the big part of what happened today first. The convoy, traveling along the A-9 to A-16 highway, was attacked by a mutant horde on A-14 due to a miscommunication between the convoy and the fighters., Despite the best efforts of both the defenders and the fighter group that rushed back, we lost 34 people. Not to mention the 6 vehicles that were damaged beyond repair and the supplies that have been contaminated.

I am to blame for some of those losses. I was so caught up in figuring out how to save the survivors trapped in the middle of it that I didn't give any thought as to how to deal with the horde once we had drawn them to us. Four fighters were overwhelmed by sheer numbers, some during the retreat, others holding the horde back at chokepoints. Walking through the aftermath of that fight, I felt the weight of each death bearing down on my shoulder. I could see the dull darkness in those glazed-over eyes which once held the light of life.

The leader was rightfully pissed at me. Gave me (and AR team) a yelling at about how my decision led to his men's death. I couldn't blame him. After all, these men were his charge, his responsibility. Although AR-15 defended me in front of him, after he had dismissed us and we were headed back to our tent, she started berating me on each mistake I made. I just listened, head bowed, reflecting on each mistake she brought up.

Am I really fit to lead this team of elite dolls? Can I really lead others, knowing that every decision I make could potentially cost someone their lives?

I should probably write a little about those who died because of me. It only seems fitting that I should honour their sacrifice.

Natalie. She once told me wanted to see the world, climb the Eiffel tower, visit the Colosseum. The ELID contamination put an end to that dream, so she had taken to collecting these postcards with beautiful pictures of various famous landmarks. I had to admit, a lot of them matched up with the data I had in my core.

She only showed that collection to the few adults she trusted. Said that most of them scoffed at it, chided her for collecting these instead of useful supplies. The children, however, were always captivated by them. A lot of them would rush to her tent after dinner just to see those pictures. Might be why the adults mostly stuck to making a show of their disapproval instead of outright forbidding her to collect more postcards.

They were talking about clearing her tent out, recycling and redistributing whatever she had to the rest of the group. I should probably grab those postcards, make sure the kids can continue to dream about these places.

Natalie. I…I'm so sorry. Sorry for failing you, for failing to make your dream a reality… The only thing I can do now is to continue what you started.

Diary Entry No. 165 Part 2

Had to leave my diary writing till later at night. They announced the burial of those who had fallen in the mutant attack. I had to be present, for those we lost.

Made my way to Natalie's tent. Memories of her tent being filled with children looking with awe at the pictures on the postcards came back to me as I rummaged through the tent. Managed to find her stash of postcards and walk out of there before the supply people could claim what was inside.

Went to the burial site. The convoy leader was giving a speech to those assembled, talking about how they were called to their eternal rest, their lives forever at peace. People were glancing-no, looking at me. Some seemed to be grateful to me, likely the ones who were trapped in the campervans, but others were staring at me as though I had no place being there. I couldn't stand the accusing looks, so I walked on to where the bodies were laid out in preparation for the burial. Located Natalie by that silly-looking bear cap she always wore.

I called that cap silly, but now it only served to remind me of my failing to ensure her survival.

Placed her favourite postcard, the one showing an Egyptian Pyramid, on her chest, under her hands. Talked a bit to her about how I was planning on collecting more postcards so that the children could look at them. Cried a bit when the men took the stick platform she was resting on and lowered it into the grave dug for her. Only after the last shovel of dirt had been piled on top of her grave did I finally gather myself and walk back to the camp.

Back in camp, the mood was mostly sombre. Mushroom jerky was being passed out to the people. With the recent attacks, it was deemed too risky to light the fires that would normally be used to cook mushroom soup. Several people, particularly those performing night shift duties, were rather vocal in their complaints. I walked up to the food truck, trying to ignore the stares from everyone, and gathered the allotted T-doll rations for AR team. To my surprise, the lady manning the truck, a no-nonsense fighter called Misha, reached below her counter and pulled out a PEQ laser sight.

Turned out her niece was one of the children trapped in that campervan. Though she remained gruff, she was grateful for my help in rescuing her and insisted on me taking that laser sight. I didn't have the heart to say no, so I accepted it and walked back to our tent. Along the way back, I checked the laser sight. As expected, the battery compartment was empty.

Made my way back to the team's tent. SOP was trying to comfort M16, who was still depressed about the absence of alcohol. She had been told that it could take at least two weeks before the next batch of brew could be ready for consumption. M16 broke down in tears upon hearing that and SOP had to drag her back to the tent. She was still half-heartedly eating the rations I had brought back when two men passing by our tent mentioned the phrase 'Jack Daniels'.

M16 instantly jumped up and ran out of the tent. The rest of the team followed her outside to find her grabbing a man by his shoulders and shaking the sense out of him while asking him where the booze was. After we finally calmed M16 down, we learnt that the two men were scavengers who had returned from a nearby abandoned town and one of them had apparently found two untouched bottles of Jack Daniels. The men were trying to barter for the item between each other when M16 spun one of them around and started shaking him.

Upon hearing the story, M16 commenced trying to haggle for those two bottles of Jacks. The scavenger kept refusing whatever M16 offered. At one point, she even offered up both SOP and AR-15's, ahem, undergarments. I didn't know which was more amusing - the fact that AR-15 was offended or that the scavenger refused even that offer.

Eventually, M16 got so persistent, following the scavenger around, hooking her arms onto his leg and drawing so much attention that he simply thrust a bottle into her hands with a 'Get this crazy bitch away from me!' Before she could take even one sip of her loot, however, AR-15 snatched it out of her hand. Handing the bottle off to SOP, AR-15 proceeded to drag M16 back to our tent, giving her a death stare along the way. Right now, M16 is tied up in chains around a buried metal pole just outside our tent, looking longingly at the bottle of Jack Daniels sitting next to AR-15's bed. I have a feeling that she won't be drinking that bottle anytime soon, judging by how pissed AR-15 is…

In any case, we'll arrive at the outskirts of Paris in three days time. I plan on volunteering AR team to recon the city so the scavenger teams can raid the city for supplies. For now though, I should get some sleep. It's going to be another busy day clearing the way for the caravans tomorrow.

Entry addition

M16 got loose in the middle of the night. Slipped off to find the scavenger and his bottle of Jack Daniels.

The whole camp woke up to the terrified screams of the poor man. Everyone thought they were under a mutant attack again and came running towards the man's tent, weapons at the ready, only to find M16 pinning him down and trying to suck on the man's mouth. It took AR-15 and SOP together to haul her off him and restrain her.

After we finally calmed the man down, he told us, with occasional wild-eyed glances at M16, that he drunk the bottle of Jack Daniels he had and then drifted off to sleep. When he awoke, feeling something heavy pressing down on his arms, he came face to face with M16 sniffing his mouth. That was when he screamed out, loud and terrified.

The leader was really pissed. He berated M16 and AR team before ordering us to keep M16 on a tight leash. M16 is now locked in a campervan with the rest of us taking turns at night to guard it, and the poor scavenger's tent was moved as far away as possible from M16.

AR-15 came up with a creative way to get M16 to not cause any further problems. She tied a piece of rope to the door of the Campervan and a plank, before balancing the plank and the remaining bottle of Jack Daniels off a table where M16 could see. Although, she also got SOP to bring some empty glass bottles over to her. I can't figure out why she would want them. Target practice?

I'm writing this part as I'm watching the campervan, giving M16 a deadeye look whenever I see her staring at me and the bottle of Jack Daniels. It's been a peaceful night so far, apart from M16's 'attack'. Hopefully we don't have any more scares. The camp mood is really tense at this point.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The convoy, after three days of travel, finally arrived on the outskirts of Paris. The most eye catching thing that could be seen sticking out from behind the gabled roofs of Paris were the twisted bones of the Eiffel Tower, crumpled and bent from halfway up like the emaciated fingers of the recent dead. Smoke still rose from the wreckage. The streets below were eerily empty. Not a single corpse or walking body could be seen between the buildings that were overgrown with dense brush.

As the convoy was busy setting up camp, M4 walked up to the leader's tent. Lifting the flaps, she walked inside and was immediately assaulted by the smoke that hung inside the tent. The source of the smoke became evident as she saw the leader smoking a cigarette while hunched over, scanning a map laid out on the table. A tray full of ash sat next to the map with several cigarette butts next to it.

The leader caught sight of M4, straightened himself, crossed his arms and frowned. "M4. What is it? I'm busy trying to plan the teams that will be going into the city."

M4 stepped up to the table. "Sir, I'd like to request that AR team be one of the teams that performs reconnaissance of the city."

"AR team?" The leader didn't change his expression. "And your reason for this is?"

"Sir, I feel that those who are better trained and equipped should be the ones to perform the more dangerous tasks. Also..."

M4 hesitated to mention the need to prove herself and AR team's worth. However, it seemed that the leader understood her intentions.

"...*Sigh* Very well. AR team will recon the center of town, as well as what remains of the Eiffel tower. Radios on at all times. Status updates every two hours or earlier."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm not done yet." The leader took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I don't like the looks of that city. The streets are empty of any bodies, living, mutant or otherwise. Something is going on in that city, and I hate having to deal with unknowns."

The leader looked down at the map. Pointing at the Seine river running through the city, he continued.

"However, we're running short on supplies, in particular water and medicine. The kids are already consuming a lot, as well as the sick and the elderly. So we're going to have to take a chance. Your primary objective is to locate raidable areas. Warehouses, homes, shops selling food and medicine for our scavengers to salvage. Also, recon the river length for a suitable outpost for us to draw water from the river. If you find any signs of people surviving nearby, be sure to keep us informed so we can adjust our plans accordingly. Understood?"

"Yes sir." M4 answered back. She turned around and started heading out of the tent.

"...M4?" The leader's voice stopped her just before she reached the tent flaps.

"Sir?"

"...Don't mess this up."

"Yes, sir. I won't."

***52 minutes later***

"Remind me again what we're doing here, M4?" SOP asked as she and M4 trudged down the street.

"I already told you 3 minutes ago, SOP." M4 sighed. "We need to recon the center of town for shops and warehouses for our scavenger teams to raid, while AR-15 and M16 recon both the Eiffel tower and the Seine river. We also need to figure out why we aren't seeing any mutants in the city or our scavenger teams might get ambushed."

"Ehhhh? That's so boring! I wanna go smash some mutant skulls!" SOP whirled her bat around, her gun slung around her back. Anton the gunsmith had managed to finish repairing it yesterday, although he warned SOP to be careful when he handed it back to her. He was already running out of machined parts for her type of gun and might not be able to fix it the next time it broke.

"Quiet down, SOP. You're going to give our position away."

Having reached an intersection, the pair still couldn't find any sign of habitation. M4 looked hard in all directions, aiming her rifle at possible spots of trouble, but all she could see were barricaded storefronts, stationary vehicles and lots of holes in the ground.

"...Uh, M4?" SOP started up.

"Not now, SOP. I'm busy looking around." M4 tried to get a better look at the holes in the ground

"I think you might want to look in another direction."

Confused, M4 looked at SOP and followed her gaze all the way towards the sky. Or what she thought would be the sky. Instead, she caught sight of what appeared to be a series of planks laid out between the upper floors and roof of the buildings as if it were bridges.

"That looks like human handiwork to me." SOP commented.

"A way to avoid the hordes, perhaps?" M4 replied. "But, where are the hordes?"

"Who cares?" SOP bounded towards the nearest building where the planks were coming out of. "Let's go and say hi!"

"Wait, SOP. We need to report this back to the caravan first.

"Fine…." SOP went back to her bored routine again, sulking around and poking at piles of trash.

M4 pulled out her hand-held radio and pressed the transmit button. "Watchtower, Watchtower. This is M4 speaking, over."

"*Static* This is Watchtower. Go ahead, over."

"Watchtower. We've just spotted signs of possible human habitation. A number of planks laid out across the upper floors and the roofs of the buildings to form a...bridge of some kind? Over."

"Copy that, standby."

...

"...M4. Be advised, other recon teams are reporting the same thing in their sectors. Advise you make contact with extreme caution. How copy?"

"Solid copy, Watchtower. Over and out."

M4 clipped her radio back onto her jacket before realizing that SOP had disappeared.

"SOP?" M4 whispered out loud, her gun at the ready. As she listened for a reply, she heard a faint rustle behind her.

Whirling around, she aimed her gun in the direction of the rustling and was about to pull the trigger when a familiar voice called out.

"Don't shoot, M4!"

Freezing up, M4 saw that it was only SOP.

"Don't do that, SOP!" M4 was livid as she pointed her rifle away.

"Ehehe, sorry about that." SOP grinned. "But I went to take a look around the building since you were so busy talking on your radio."

"SOP!" M4 huffed. "You know we have to stay together and watch each other's backs. What's the use of a buddy system if you wander off by yourself?"

"Sorry, sorry." SOP replied. "But I did find something interesting."

"What?"

"Well, I tried to go upstairs." SOP pointed towards the bridge above them. "But the stairway was completely blocked off."

"Okay?" M4 didn't see the point.

"That's not it." SOP continued. "It's not just that one stairway that's blocked off. The rest of the stairways in the building were also blocked off. Took a look at the next door building and saw the same thing. I reckon it's probably the same for the rest of the buildings."

"That doesn't make sense." M4 replied. "I mean, it would if there were mutants roaming around here. But we haven't seen even one mutant ever since we entered the city."

"Sooooo, what does that mean?" SOP asked.

Before M4 could reply, they heard a voice calling out from above.

"HEY! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TWO DOING DOWN THERE?!"

Surprised, M4 aimed her gun upwards. SOP immediately put her hand on top of her gun, forcing its barrel down.

"Wait, M4! Mutants don't shout!"

Releasing the tension in her grip, M4 looked up at the source of the voice, which was in the form of a weathered-looking man dressed in what appeared to be brown jeans and a blue shirt, topped with a brown vest and a cowboy hat. In his hands was a hunting rifle, although he wasn't aiming it at the two T-dolls.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING ON STREET LEVEL?!" He hollered down. "YOU NEED TO GET OFF THERE RIGHT NOW!"

"WHY?" SOP shouted back. "THERE ISN'T ANY MUTANT TO BE SEEN AROU-"

Before SOP could finish her sentence, the ground beneath them began to tremble, lightly at first, but it quickly grew in intensity until M4 could see little rocks start getting thrown up from the ground.

"SHIT! GET OUT OF THERE!" The man hollered down. "THEY'RE COMING!"

M4 was being disoriented by the trembling of the ground beneath her as she fought to maintain her balance. Before she could regain her balance, SOP tackled her to one side, just before something large burst through the ground where M4 was standing. Whatever it was, it was huge and slimy. A horrible, viscous liquid was flung everywhere, a huge drop barely missing the two dolls as they scrambled to their feet.

"RUN! HEAD FOR THE NEXT INTERSECTION! I'LL COVER YOU!" The man above hollered as he began firing at the creature, which shrieked in pain as it was hit. M4 didn't need to be told twice. She and SOP started running in the direction of the next intersection.

"Shit! Keep moving SOP!" M4 hollered over the zenner as they both sprinted for their lives. M4 could hear the ground rumbling behind them, and, for some reason, bells ringing. Risking a quick glance behind her, M4 saw the hideous maw of some worm-like creature as it bit into the asphalt behind her and disappeared underneath, which spurred her to run even faster.

"Hurry up! Get that crank working!"  
"There they are! Hurry, get the lift down to them!"

M4 looked ahead, past the approaching intersection to see a crowd of people on a bridge just ahead. Two burly men were sweating buckets as they hastily lowered a wooden platform with ropes tied to it, which stopped about a metre off the ground.

"Hurry! Jump on the lift!" A young woman yelled.

The two dolls did not need to be told twice. Mustering their energy, the two dolls leapt into the platform and collapsed on it. As the lift started ascending, M4 looked back where they ran from to see the street filled with burrowing and jumping worms, like a deadly, writhing sea.

"Watch out!"

M4 stumbled as the lift suddenly shifted to the right. Dazed by the impact, she and SOP looked up to see a massive worm biting down on one of the platform's wooden boards.

"Shit! That worm's going to bring the entire lift down with its weight!"

"Shoot it! Shoot it!"

M4 tried to aim her rifle at the worm, only to be knocked off balance by the platform's wild swaying. SOP was having difficulty trying to get a good hit on the worm as her bat either missed the worm or was deflected by the worm's rubber-like skin. The men cranking the pulleys were fighting a losing battle to keep the lift in the air, weighed down as it was by the worm.

"Why aren't you shooting that worm?!"

"I can't get a clear shot! I might accidentally hit those girls instead!"

There's no way out of this, M4 thought.

Just as M4 started to despair, a loud series of bangs sounded. A number of red holes appeared on the worm's body.

M4 looked up to see a woman dressed in a red blouse and a blue skirt, along with black full leg stockings and a pair of white boots. Her greenish-golden hair flowed over a slung duffel bag over her right arm while she fired a bullpup-style weapon with her left. The amazing thing was that she was doing this while wall-running off a nearby building, heading towards the lift.

The woman kicked off from the wall as she neared the lift and landed on it. An instant later, despite the wild swaying of the platform, she quickly crossed over to the worm and, with precision, fired two bursts into the upper part of the worm. The worm opened it's maw, released the lift and let out a dying scream as it plummeted all the way down to the street below.

The woman, having dealt with the threat, turned towards M4, her blue eyes looking over both M4 and SOP as the lift gradually stopped swinging around wildly and started ascending.

"So, what brings you two outsiders to this part of town?"

* * *

Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay for this chapter. Writing content takes a lot more time than I originally thought. Please bear with me while I get the story out properly, and thank you for your patience.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Outsiders?" M4 asked, confused.

"Pretty simple to figure that out." The woman replied, as she helped M4 and SOP to their feet. "You guys were at street level, without staying on top of cars. That means you two aren't aware of the golden rule of staying off the streets. On top of that, the two of you were completely unsteady on your feet with the lift swaying around earlier. That indicates that you two aren't runners, either." The woman pointed at the worms burrowing out of and into the street below. "Anyone else who stayed on the ground in this city either ran away from here or got swallowed whole by those worms. So, easy enough to guess that you two are from outside the city, hence the term outsiders."

"I...see." M4 replied. The lift had reached the top of the nearest building, allowing the three of them to step off the lift and onto the roof. "You're FAMAS, aren't you?"

FAMAS did a double take. "How did you figure out my name?"

"Your firearm. It matches the description of the T-doll FAMAS in my memory module."

"...Interesting." FAMAS looked at M4. "You have data on me in your memory module, huh. So, you're a T-doll as well, and judging by your weapon….M4?"

"Yes. 16LAB Tactical Doll, M4A1. This here is 16LAB Tactical Doll M4 SOPMOD ll."

"Hi there!" SOP said, as she gave a big grin.

"...16LAB. That's a name I haven't heard of in a long while."

"Wait…Those worms are all over Paris?" M4 asked, realization starting to dawn on her.

"For the most part, yes." FAMAS replied. "Why?"

"Oh no, AR-15 and M16! They're still on the streets!"

"Friends of yours?" FAMAS had a concerned look on her face. "Do you have a way to communicate with them?"

"Yes. My radio…" M4 reached for her where she had clipped her radio, but she only felt the fabric of her jacket. "Oh no! Where's my radio?!" She frantically began searching her clothes. "Where's my radio?!"

"Easy, easy." FAMAS said soothingly. "If you don't have your radio, we'll have to get a message to your friends the old fashioned way. Where were they heading?"

"Um, they were heading to check out the collapsed Eiffel Tower, as well as the Seine river."

"Okay….That's both good news and bad. The Eiffel Tower is where we generally don't go. The teams we sent there never did return, forcing us to close off the site."

"...And the good news?" M4 looked into FAMAS's eyes with a hint of desperation.

FAMAS didn't even flinch. "However, if they decided to recon the length of the river, then they should be relatively safe. The worm ELIDs don't burrow close to the river, likely to avoid having their tunnels flooded out. So it's a matter of where they went to first."

"I-I think they may have decided to recon the river first, if I know AR-15." M4 quietly replied

"AR-15 and M16 right? Got it." FAMAS turned around and called out. "AAT-52, hurry over here!"

"Ehhh, what is it, FAMAS?" A small girl with green hair and orange eyes, dressed in a white and blue frilly blouse with an orange skirt and white knee-height stockings appeared and ran over to FAMAS. Slung on her back was a gun which was almost as long as her height, a AAT-52 LMG.

"52, I need you to relay a message to the community near the Seine river, as well as the lookout posted near the remains of the Eiffel Tower. Tell them to be on the lookout for two T-dolls, AR-15 and M16. Check in with the lookout first to see if he spotted anyone near the tower and if he didn't see them, head for the community and see if anyone there has seen them. They should be easily identifiable by their weapons. Go, hurry! And be careful."

"Please, FAMAS. When have I never been careful?" AAT-52 gave a cheery smile.

"Don't make me read you that list." FAMAS sternly replied. "It'll take me all day just to recount the number of times I had to save you from your own mistakes. Now go!"

Saluting FAMAS, AAT-52 ran for the edge of the building the dolls were on. As M4 watched, AAT-52 jumped for the next-door building, grabbing onto the ledge and hauling herself upwards. The moment her feet hit the ground, she started running again in the same direction.

"That's...an interesting way to get around." SOP remarked, looking at the retreating figure.

"It's called _Parkour_, and it's about the only way to quickly move around up here." FAMAS replied. "When we first got stuck up here, we couldn't go back on the street to look for food, water or medicine. We had to make do with what people could scavenge from the buildings we were on top of. Our first scavengers were youths who had learnt parkour in their free time. They were our community's lifeline during the first few months. Now that the situation has stabilized and was no longer critical, some of them turned to teaching the rest of us how to move around. Now, our scavengers and fighters use it to move around the city and avoid the worms."

FAMAS started walking towards the various tents pitched on the roof. "Of course, unless you two are planning on staying in this city permanently, we won't force you to learn how to move around like us, although I would strongly recommend it anyway."

M4 and SOP followed FAMAS as she walked past the various tents until they reached a large tent which had a table and chair up front and a number of shelves loaded with all kinds of supplies and equipment in the back. A slightly older man wearing glasses was sitting on the chair, busy looking at the sheet of paper in his hands.

FAMAS walked up to the desk and faked a cough. The man looked up, laid his paper down (which M4 could now see had a list of supplies written on it) and took off his glasses, wiping it on his shirt.

"Hello there, FAMAS." He looked at FAMAS, then glanced at M4 and SOP. "And who might your new friends be?"

"They're new in this city." FAMAS said. "Anything else, you'll have to ask them yourself."

"I see, I see…." The man nodded, looking at the two dolls before turning his eyes back to FAMAS. "And how did the trade go?"

FAMAS nodded. "It went rather well. Checked the medication, everything there as agreed upon. I gave them the location where they could find their new melee weapons cache before leaving."

"Good, good…." The man seemed rather distracted by something else.

"..." FAMAS sighed as she read the man's body language. "The baron's thugs were here, weren't they?"

The man looked up in surprise, before nodding slowly.

"Yes, they were here. Left roughly two hours ago after making their demands. Can you believe it? 400 bladed and blunt weapons by the end of the week, or they'll cut our water supply."

"What?!" FAMAS looked shocked. "But we'll never meet that kind of demand in one week!"

"That's what Ahmed tried to tell them. Their response was to simply beat him up, tie a rope around his leg and throw him over the side of the building. They were howling and laughing like jackals as Ahmed struggled on the rope, just mere inches off the ground. People here are scared, FAMAS. A few of them went around beating up people who were just minding their own business."

"Why didn't the guards stop them?" FAMAS asked.

"They tried, but their leader threatened to cut our water flow if they even so much as lifted a finger to intervene. They were forced to stand aside as they went around, trashing tents and beating random people up. They even took all the liquor I had stockpiled in this tent. Broke my glasses as they shoved me to the ground. Thankfully I had a spare." The man instinctively reached up and patted his glasses.

"God dammit." FAMAS cursed.

"Um, excuse me." M4 spoke softly. "Are you having some kind of problem?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. Nothing that you need to be concerned over." FAMAS tried to smile, but it only came out half-heartedly.

"FAMAS, if there are people who need help, let us help." M4 said. "We're trained T-dolls. We can handle this. We can help."

"Yeah!" SOP added. "We're elite T-dolls. We can handle anything. We beat the shit out of a ton of mutants all the way to here. We can do it again. Heck, this time, it's humans we're going to be fighting against. It'll be even easier!"

"Shush, SOP." M4 looked at SOP, only for her to receive a grin back.

FAMAS looked at M4 and SOP, then shook her head.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work. First off, the only safe way to the Purification Plant where the Baron makes his 'lair' is over the rooftops. Given how you two fared against the worms earlier, I doubt you'll be able to manage even that.

Second, the Baron isn't just some dude with a few muscles and guns to protect himself. He's turned that place into a fortress. Barbed wire, searchlights, patrols, heck he even has landmines set up to cover approaches, if you can believe the rumors about him. It wouldn't be easy to actually get to him even if you could make your way there.

Third off, these are just rumors, but some of the runners have heard the thugs speak of a bodyguard of the Baron's. No one knows who he is, but apparently a very angry, big thug who used to be a trucker once tried to stab him and his corpse was found floating down the Seine river the very next morning. Two bullet holes straight in the center of the chest and one more neatly in the middle of his forehead."

"Still, we have to try, right?" M4 looked FAMAS in the eye. "We can learn how to run around the roofs, we can put together a plan to take down the Baron. We can help stop the suffering and pain being inflicted on these people instead of doing nothing!"

"Look here, M4 I empathize with what you're trying to say, but it's not so simple as just marching into there…"

FAMAS stopped as the old man's hand came down lightly on her shoulder.

"I say, FAMAS…we should give them a chance."

"A chance?" FAMAS was confused. "How?"

"Show them how we operate around here." The man looked at both M4 and SOP. "Give them three days to learn how we do things here. I suppose they would want to find their friends as well. Show em how we can move about on the street while avoiding the worms as well. If they can get the basics under their belt, then maybe we can consider them helping us."

FAMAS thought this over, before nodding and turning to M4 and SOP.

"Very well. I don't necessarily agree with this idea, but it might be worth a try."

"Can you teach both of us how to parkour as well?" SOP asked with a glint in her eyes.

"SOP, I don't think…"

"Aw, come on M4. It'll be fun! Plus, it should also allow us to move about on the rooftops here much better." SOP said, grasping both of M4's hand in her own.

"F-fine. I guess...I could learn…" M4 mumbled.

"You two want to learn parkour? Hmmm, I suppose there isn't any harm in doing so. It's going to be tough, so get some rest. We'll start first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

Hello everyone. I am really sorry for the late (and very inconsistent) uploads. This story has started to take longer and longer to make right. I do hope you will appreciated this chapter, and hopefully I can push out more entertaining chapters for all of you.


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